Christmas Day & New Years Day

Just a reminder: Anyone who managed to sign up for tours on either Christmas day or New Years day before we were able to discontinue registry -- we will not be offering tours either of those days. We are closed for business on both days. No tours and the store is closed. Thank you for your understanding.

As the holidays bear down us, we'd like to wish you all a pleasant holiday. The ability to step back and take stock is good for all. So, from our bizarre family to yours, Cheers.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Holiday Hours

During the holiday season the Half Acre Craft Beer Emporium will have a revised schedule.

We will be closed December, 24th, 25th & 26th.

We will also be closed January 1st & 2nd.

All other hours will be the same. Thanks you for your cooperation.

Happy Holidays,

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

On Photon gear up and Thanks

On Photon is upon us. Here's what's what and a big thanks to our friends who are taking part:

Half Acre, Chicago IL

Three Floyds, Munster IN

Piece, Chicago IL

Goose Island, Chicago IL

Revolution, Chicago IL

Flossmoor Station, Flossmoor IL

Metropolitan, Chicago, IL

Pipeworks, Chicago IL

Short's, Bellaire MI

Dogfish, Milton DE

Cigar City, Tampa FL

Six Point, Brooklyn NY

Bill Kim & The Urban Belly / Shack Clan

Derek's Dogs

Nice Cream

Jim Shearer

The fine folks who bring us H20 & Photon particles

The creator of the portable bathroom & the people behind the people.

The guests bringing us music and, you, our guests.

Thanks,

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Double Daisy Cutter / Doble Cortador

The Double Daisy is now in consumption format. This one is a real treat to have around the brewery and I plan to take full advantage.

The first opportunity for you to take some in will be at our impending party, On Photon, this Saturday December 18, 2010. If you didn't score tickets to that event, then you'll be able to buy Double Daisy at our store in both growlers & 22oz bomber bottles on Wednesday December 22, 2010. We will begin selling at 12:00.

Prices will be:

Growler fills: $17

22oz bombers: $9.99

There's a 6 bomber purchase limit.

For those that will ask, this was a 30bbl bactch.

The DDC will also pop around town at your favorite watering holes.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Store Closing Early 12/18

All those planning to shop at Half Acre Beer Co's Craft Beer Emporium on December 18th, 2010 should be advised the we will be closing early for a private event.

Store Hours:

11am - 5pm

Thank you

Half Acre Beer CO

Chicago, IL

On Photon

As many of you know, we sold out our upcoming party, On Photon, this past Friday in record time.

We clearly upset some people and understand why. There's no great way to do this and every option leaves someone at a disadvantage. This is very much a learning process for us and we hope to improve things in a way that closer levels the opportunity for people to join us when having events.

I could go through our reasoning for doing things the way we did, but the bottom line is we thought we'd have tickets long enough and were doing things in a way that anyone who was truly interested could get a crack at them.

We appreciate your comments and will definitely take them into consideration when doing this again.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, I

Who Needs a Hug?

Good people of the blogosphere, this is Rog, Half Acre Beer Company's head of snacks and morale, jumpin' in quick here to invite you all to come Hug it out with us tomorrow night at Archie's!

Archie's Iowa Rockwell Tavern rules for hosting, and is located at 2600 West Iowa St, in Chicago's 60622 part of town.

All 100% of a keg filled with this latest imperial stout, hugged in Dark Matter Coffee, will be tapped at 7pm. We're gonna drink it, then soak it up with complimentary vittles from pals at Derek's Dogs and Deli. At 10pm, it'll be time for a catnap.

Come to us, with open arms.

All tickets have been sold out for On Photon.
Hopefully you got your hands on some.
We wish we could extend the count, but our brewery is only so big.

Thank you to everyone who waited in line and pit forth the effort. We'll see you on 12/18

Sent from my iPhone

On Photon......SOME details

Tickets for On Photon go on sale tomorrow 12/3 at 12:00.

The cost is $40 per ticket / maximum 10 tickets per person.

Date of On Photon: 12/18/10

Time of On Photon: 6 - 9:30pm

Location of On Photo: Half Acre Brewery, 4257 N. Lincoln Ave

Total tickets available: 275

Here are SOME details:

Some of the kegs :

Half Acre

Three Floyds

Short's Brewing

Cigar City

Sixpoint

Piece

Flossmoor Station

Pipeworks

Some of the food:

Bill Kim, Urban Belly

Derek's Dogs

Dessert & WATER

Some of the entertainment:

Our resident vinyl roughneck, DJ Major Taylor

+ Special Guests

+ Many photon particles

Giving you all the details would take some of the fun out of it.

Maybe you made it out to our last party at the end of Chicago Craft Beer Week.

This will be better.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

The Big Middle Finger

In years past, I'll admit it, winter has had me beat. The brewery gets cold, arctic temperatures while walking the dog, digging out the fork lift in the alley, etc. But not this year. We at Half Acre are taking a stance and our friend, Winter, gets the big middle finger.

First day of December and you want to drop some snow, no problem pal, I hope it's up to my femurs by mid afternoon. Twenty-five degrees, that's ok, let me shed a layer because the sweat is beginning to dampen my shorts and tank-top.

No crying this winter, Winter, it's all bravado and smooth sailing over here. Our first dagger in your side: Double Daisy Cutter. We've kicked up a big batch of this and it's gurgling away in our cellar as I type. It will first be available to be consumed at will during our party, On Photon, on 12/18. After that it will be available in our store for growler pours and in 22oz bottles.

So smoke that, Winter.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Hugs

We'll be releasing Big Hugs Imperial Stout this Friday 12/3 @ 12 noon.

We're still walking the beer through its process so I won't yet speak to its pizazz, but we've got high hopes.

Growlers will $17 for refills & $21 if you need to purchase the growler, as well.

22oz bomber bottles will be $10.99 each

Destroyed rainbows, simply a bonus.

Hearts,

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

On Photon

Ladies & Gentlemen,

We're having an event at our brewery (4257 N. Lincoln Ave) and you're invited. This will be one of two events that we hope will bookend each year. The first: a winter celebration. A time to exercise the demons and flush it all out.

The cost is $40 per person.

Date of event: 12/18/10 from 6:00 - 9:30pm

275 tickets to be sold. Once they're gone, that's it.

Tickets will go on sale this Friday 12/3 at our brewery store only. Big Hugs Imperial Stout will also be released the same day & time (12noon) (another blog post to follow).

What's the deal with this party you ask?

A plethora of food, all you can eat.

An array of entertainment, maybe all you can handle.

An array of beer, all you can drink. A range of Half Acre beers, including Big Hugs imperial stout brewed in collaboration with Dark Matter Coffee and also Double Daisy Cutter / The Doble Cortador, which is fermenting in preparation of this night.

Also special release beers from other brewers you know and love.

All proceeds go to benefit this party.

So bring your demons and lets have at it together.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Pay-To-Play

There's been a lot of buzz about a recent article that came out in Crain's.

Here it is

We've been interviewed countless times, asked to go on TV, etc, etc.

Here's where we stand:

We have sold beer in Chicago since August 2007 on merit alone. If we don't get or lose an account because a distributor or supplier wants to buy it out from under us, well, then that's not an account we wanted to have anyway.

We started a brewing company to make beer and share it with those who enjoy it, and that's where we focus our energies. Chicago is a great town that will support what it enjoys, whether local or from out of state and there's no shortage of great places that take part in the positive process that gets good beer to good people.

Is Chicago a complex town? Sure is... Was complex before we got here and will likely always be in one form or another.

In the end, a bar carrying a beer because of a sweet deal or a brewery or distributor buying their way through town is sad. Somewhere along the line they needed the sale too bad.

As for Half Acre, our time is best spent looking for those who do want our beer for the right reasons rather than worrying about those that don't.

And that's that,

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago ,IL

SS Simon Short

The SS Simon Short is ready to launch.

This 6%abv earthy porter is a reliable go to for your weekend needs. We've been drinking it since Wednesday and have taken quite a shine to this dogwatch porter.

Growlers only / $12 fills / $16 w/ growler

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Hugs

And the cat came back.

Soon.

Thunder & Son and The Future of The S.S.

Today we transfered Thunder & Son out of the fermenter in preparation to package it tomorrow. We'll put the final touches on it and have it ready to hit the streets once the store opens @ 12noon on Friday.

Our goal with the beer was to lay it on thick and create a beer that tipped the octane scales a touch. It finished over 12% alc and flexes some heft. We're big fans of brown beers and this one will aid anyone in grinding through the winter muck. The last couple days have been climate gift, but you know it's coming.

Next out of the pipeline is a porter called The S.S Simon Short that we should be releasing next Friday. The S.S. is a porter with some base earthiness that shouts out to the Fuggles and Goldings we used to hop the beer. It's still taking shape but we're excited by what we've tasted so far.

The details for Thunder & Son release on Friday & beyond:

-It will be sold at our brewery store beginning at 12noon.

-22oz bomber bottles are $10.99

-Growler fills are $18 ($22 is you are also purchasing the growler)

This beer should filter out to some of your favorite beer bars around town.

We'll see you soon..

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Thunder & Son

The temperature dive is Mother Nature's way of saying "go ahead, fellas, brew some big beers. " Who are we to tempt Mother Nature?

So we brew the Tonka truck of brown beers, Thunder & Son Brown Ale.

We just finished the first of four mashes for this 30bbl brew. For those not steeped in geekery, that means this beer is going to be a real chunker, 12+% abv.

We'll need some time to wrangle this beer into bomber bottles and kegs, but it should land right about the time the frost does.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Thanks to Phineas X Jones for helping to bring our bizarre visual concepts to life.

Brewery Tables

We've been folding, unfolding, moving, sliding and beating up folding tables in the brewery for a while now. They're functional, but look like crap and are less than what we'd like. This weekend, with help of an old friend that hails from the east, we're constructing new tables made with things that were either found or left in the building when we go it.

These will be burly tables.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

New Stainless

Today the building sucked up another tank. This is the second of the series of 60bbl tanks that we're installing. Next one comes early December. Once we get this tank online, we're brewing a new / large beer into it - and this is exciting.

Cheers,

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Wake Of The Flood

We've been monkeying around with a new beer called Wake Of The Flood over the last few weeks. The goal was to lean on some rye malt with this beer with a flash of pilsner malt, back it up with some crystal hops and serve up our take on a harvest beer. We've yet to complete it, but we just pulled a sample from the fermenter and it's tasting solid.

Fall is in full force so this beer will drop at a time when it can be fully appreciated. So strap on your autumnal gear and hit the woods with this one.

We'll release it Friday when the store opens (12pm)

This is draft only, so bring your growler so we top you off with this fall beer.

Cheers,

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Beer & Democracy

This dude collided the birthplace of democracy and Half Acre.

Nice.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

A Formidable Gang

Thanks to all who came out to sip some of the beers we've made over these past months. You were more & bigger than we anticipated. We underestimated you, and clearly you're not to be taken lightly. We figured we'd stroll over there with some kegs and some folks would show up to quaff a few. Turns out, many of you came, there was a line to get in and the beers popped in no time. A learning experience.

Next time we will bring 3x the beer, obviously you're thirsty.

A big thanks to Mike Roper and the Hopleaf crew for hosting all of us.

Another big thanks to you for coming out and enjoying these beers.

Cheers,

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Another first

Dave from California is hosting some new ink. The Shewolf is part of his life from this point forward. Not only is it awesome to have one of our labels cross over to the eternal status of tattoo, but it's also the one that has the heads of state of both Half Acre and Three Floyds drinking the milk of life from a female wolf. Perfect.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Taking Over Japan (we're pretty sure)

I think this is the coolest piece of press that we've received to date, and we have no idea what it says. I imagine it says something about Half Acre melting faces with its tonics and how there's an active, underground black market craze for our beer that's sweeping the back alley, japanese underbelly.

Many thanks to Koji for stopping by the Half Acre.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Summer Is Dead

The heat recedes to make room for the cold, and we have to make some room ourselves. We made a lot of different beers over the spring and summer and it's time to make room so that we can continue.

So, we make space in our cold-room by unloading a bunch of 1/b bbls on one evening, with you, at the Hopleaf. Wednesday, September 29th we're taking over the place. Hopleaf will pass food and we will offer up eight different beers:

(Some are getting a little long in the tooth, but we're drinking them)

Daisy Cutter Pale Ale

Guajillo Baume

Shewolf IPA (3 Floyds Collaboration)

Freedom of '78 (Short's Brewing Collaboration)

Bairn Farmhouse

Longthai Rainbow Rye

StickyFat American Dark Ale

Double Daisy Cutter

& Maybe more

10oz pours for $3.50

Come lap up the end of these beers with us so we can make more.

Tapping all of them at 7:00 sharp

Cheers,

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

GABF

Matt & I are off to Colorado for the Great American Beer Festival. Both of us used to live outside Denver, so bringing Half Acre to Colorado is particularly great. We'll definitely get into the hills a bit, hit some of the breweries that turned us on to this whole mess in the first place, then hang out with practically every brewer in this country.

All things will continue around here while we're gone. Be well.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Just to verify

The Sticky Fat release is on at 12:00pm today. All kegged off and ready to pour.

It's a tasty beast. We called the beer an American Dark Ale, which is something we more or less made up, but what you can expect is a thick, practically black, beef nectar with a curious hop status. The weather today is well suited to tip back this 6.5% abv tonic. Labor Day will be sticky.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

StickyFat

Unless you hear otherwise, Stickyfat will go on sale at our brewery for 12:00 tomorrow 9/3. We're about to keg it off and suck down the first pint -- really looking forward to that. It's been hot in the brewery and a little chocolate thunder should hit the spot.

This beer will be available only via growler fill for $13. StickyFat T-shirts and stickers available while supplies last. The T-shirts are $25, which sounds like a lot of loot for a T-shirt (because it is), but the print is a 4-color screen and the T's themselves are made from bamboo, hemp and organic cotton. Stickers are $1.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Sticky Fat American Dark Ale

The lore goes that each year as soon the hop cones are plump the Sticky Fat Bear lumbers down from the hills to have himself a feast. He sits and eats all night long and disappears before anyone wakes. The kids chant his name in school yard folks songs, but not much is said about the Sticky Fat Bear in the rural nooks of american hop country.

When an old hop farmer in the pacific northwest was asked by a reporter:

"Sir, what do you know about the Sticky Fat Bear? Have you seen him? Are you missing hops?"

The farmer snapped this response:

"That Sticky Fat Bear is a ghost. He eats 'em all up. He takes what he wants and leaves us with nothin'."

Whether you believe in the the Sticky Fat Bear or not, we share an appreciation for the sticky hops. We brewed a wet hop beer in his honor. We had a farmer pick hops in northern california a couple weeks ago and fly them to us for a brew the next morning. We brewed what we're calling an American Dark Ale using all whole cone hops, still sticky from the vine. This beer will be an all draft release at our brewery. We're targeting next Friday 9/3 for a release. We'll have Sticky Fat t-shirts made from bamboo, some stickers and screen prints. All will be gone fast, as though it was never here at all.

Hopefully you get to check this beer out.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Much thanks to our friend Phineas for helping us bring the bear into sight

Half Acre Closing Early

The Half Acre Craft Beer Emporium will be closing early this Wednesday 8/25. We close at 7:30pm. Please make note. Thanks.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Bairn Farmhouse is now available in both 22oz bomber bottles and growlers.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Bairn Farmhouse

The Bairn Farmhouse will be released at 4:00 pm today. Then, and only then, will we begin selling growlers and 22oz bomber bottles (Growler pours $13 / bomber bottles $7.99). These Saisons continue to be a wise decision to combat the summer swelter. Take it, summer.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

New Tank Pics

Here are some shots of the new bright beer tank. This one is more squat than the conical fermenters that are coming -- just a fat pig.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Feed the building

Today we received the first of a series of 60bbl vessels. This one is a dish-bottom tank that we'll use to carbonate beer. In total, each will hold about 2000 gallons of beer, but we'll yield roughly 1800 gallons (60BBL) each time we use them. We continue to feed this building tanks. It opens and we send in another.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Farm Dinner On Saturday

We're doing a farm dinner with City Provisions on Saturday. We'll have a cool line up of beers. I'm told there are still some spots, so come and toast summer beers on a farm. Details here.

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

Bairn Farmhouse

Not much time to gab, but Bairn Farmhouse, the Belgian Farmhouse Ale we brewed is scheduled to drop this Friday. We'll be offering both growler fills and 22oz bomber bottles. Release details to follow on Friday.

Cheers,

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL

The Shining

Half Acre has always been fortunate. We've had the pleasure of connecting with quality, talented individuals, who together brewed beers that we all wanted to brew. Everyone here is crucial & responsible. Attributing a success or a failure to any one individual is foolish. This is and will always be the way that Half Acre approaches its work.

With that said, I wanted to make note that Matt Gallagher, who helps run this mother, is going to hold things down as Head Brewer from this point forward. You've probably met Matt. If you've ever been to our brewery, he was likely here. He breaks himself to keep Half Acre running and on its toes. This is how it's always been.

And with this I give you the classic & demented scene in the The Shining when Delbert Grady informs Jack Torrence that it's he who is the caretaker at the Overlook Hotel. That he's always been the caretaker at the Overlook hotel.

And so it goes,

Half Acre Beer Co

Chicago, IL